"I am here today to express Sweden's orientation towards the enlargement of the EU. It is important to continue this process and include western Balkan countries in the Union and we hope that Croatia's negotiations with the EU would start as soon as possible," Freivalds said during her first visit to Zagreb.
She said this was equally important for Croatia and the region.
Freivalds said Sweden could help Croatia with its experience from the process of joining the EU, as it did to Poland and the Baltic countries.
The Swedesh and the Croatian foreign ministers agreed that the bilateral relations were very good..
Freivalds also talked about Srebrenica where she attended the ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the slaughter of 8,000 Muslims. Commenting on the Serbian leadership failure to apologise for the crime, Freivalds said that it was important for every country to admit its problems from the past.
"It is not possible to look to the future without sincerity and justice," the Swedish minister said.
The Croatian minister reiterated the statement by Croatian President Stjepan Mesic that "all those who killed were doing that in the name of the Serb people which is why they have to say that the Serb people is not behind this".
According to her, "Croatia believes that individuals must be brought before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and be punished for the crimes they committed so that this chapter could be closed".